The gargoyle's eyes flare red. It cries out in a guttural voice. Kill La Siréene! Kill those who help La Siréen... CRACK! The stone creature breaks...big shards chip off of it...under the weight of Sandru's attack.

The gargoyle takes 33 damage.

The gargoyle swipes a sharply-taloned claw at Sandru. The flint drags hard across his chest, but fails to hurt the stalwart fighter.

The second gargoyle stares Ianez down unblinkingly. A twitch of the snout... WHAM! Its head is knocked back as the sword delivers an uppercut to its chin.

Gargoyle #2 takes 9 damage.

The creature's eyes burn red, same as the other one. It angrily hisses. Don't you recognize me, La Siréene? I...am...we...are...Maria! The fiend tries to gore Ianez! Its horns ram into his buckler.

At the moment the word "Maria" is uttered, two more gargoyles that have been hovering through the fog come across your party. An additional two swoop down from the sky with clawed feet stuck out to brace their descent. It's as if they were drawn to an energy...the life force of La Siréene?

The call of the obelisks...

It's a wing of gargoyles! You are beset from all sides!

One of the newcomers lunges at Sandru with its talons, digging into his arm!

La Siréene responds to the thing that calls itself Maria. "No. I do not recognize you. You are not nearly vain, irrational and romantic enough. A Gargoyle, really? You do not even have a pink handbag!"

The gargoyle winces at La Siréene's remark, like a slap to the face. I am vain, irrational, and romantic enough! It sniffles and composes its emotions. Gargoyles don't have pink handbags, you idiot! We are scary! And menacing! Wooooohhh! it insists, waving its arms to demonstrate the point.

_____

The Manservant uses this opening to attack. His scythe grates across the gargoyle's surface, throwing off sparks. But this doesn't quite harm it.

_________________

The red light in the gargoyles' eyes reflects in the wizard's, just for a moment.

@Caromarc:

The gargoyles and obelisks were left behind by the original Pharasmin monks who built the library, sculpted to decorate the grounds (which may have once served as a garden or graveyard.) There are images related to Norgorber too; it seems the Anaphexia embellished this place with some imagery of their own.

Gargoyles can fly. They attack using claws, bite, and goring enemies with their horns. Their stone bodies are hardy against regular weapons, but take damage normally from magical ones.

The red glow in these monsters eyes points to the workings of an unusual force. Whether normal gargoyles or regular statues...could it be they're possessed and/or animated by some foreign psyche, or psyches? An invading force? (Casting magic circle was fortuitous!) They seem fixated on La Siréene. Perhaps she knows more.

Caromarc is able to concentrate and cast ear-piercing scream. Its almost as if when the wizard screams, his mouth opens unnaturally wide, he throws his arms back a little too much like wings, his eyes appear too eerily black... The gargoyle feels the horror of the night turned back onto itself!

@Caromarc - roll damage for ear-piercing scream.

_________________

Elspeth's shadowy tentacle drains its vigor a little bit more.

Gargoyle #2 takes 1 Strength damage.

_________________

One of the other, newly-arrived gargoyles flaps its wings and advances on Phoebe. It snarls, grabs the rope at her waist, and with a yank of its hugely proportioned forearms, snaps it in two! The frayed ends drop to the ground. Phoebe shouts in disgust and throws a punch at her attacker, but it just grins theateningly. The monster looms over the remaining twin, ready to snatch her up and fly off with her!

Kill those who help La Siréene! I...am...we...are...Nameless!

Gargoyle #4 moves from M-23 to L-22. DC to break rope - 1d20 + 15 ⇒ (10) + 15 = 25. (The rest of the PCS are still connected by the longer remaining segment rope, and Sandru still has the shorter segment tied around him. Phoebe's node in the chain was destroyed.)

"You DARE?" La Siréene fills with anger, with rage, she steps behind an Obelisk to I-22, away from a Gargoyle, and swings her hand back to cast-

Nameless. It calls itself Nameless. I am self-aware. If it truly is Nameless - and therefore self-aware -then it would be infinitely dangerous. It wants to kill me. Which, since if it is Nameless, or has connections to Nameless, I in return would be infinitely dangerous, killing me would be rational. DAMN! I have made to many assumptions. I need to find the truth.

-And she pauses. She shouts into the mist, "I have no quarrel with you, Maria! We were friends! It’s incredible that you live once more - but I cannot allow you to attack these people. Please. I do not want to fight you. I want to understand. Aqueous Orb!"

La Siréene casts Aqueous Orb, aiming initially for where she heard Phoebe’s scream, summoning the orb 20 feet above ground and allowing it fall down on L-M, 20-21, then rolls it in front of where she saw Caromarc, L-M, 22-23.

The gargoyle reels as Caromarc's spell rocks its equilibrium. It tries with slurred tongue to answer La Siréene. But...I have a problem with you! it says, pointing a crooked talon weakly. I want the body, La Siréene! The vessel should be mine!

Sandru cleaves again into the first gargoyle, finishing it off. There's a bursting sound, and then crumbling, like rubble falling in a quarry. The monster breaks into a pile of rocks! The man-beast whirls to repay the one that attacked him. His cutlass hits its chest with a CLANG!, but ricochets off of the stony surface.

Gargoyle #1 is dead.

edit re aqueous orb:

My mistake. The three gargoyles in my previous post were battered and engulfed by the aqueous orb. But their stony hides resisted taking damage from the water.

You know that gargoyles are greedy, vindictive creatures that like to scavenge and collect. The longer a tribe of gargoyles abides somewhere, the more its members come to resemble that region's architectural styles. It's clear that this group, living in the shadow of the library and preying on travelers, are an outer representation of an inner ugliness...the monstrous Reaper of Reputation, and his nefarious order of assassins, the Anaphexia.

Gargoyles can fly. They attack using claws, bite, and goring enemies with their horns. Their stone bodies are hardy against regular weapons, but take damage normally from magical ones.

The red glow in these monsters eyes points to the workings of an unusual force. And their words make no sense...Nameless?...Maria?... They seem fixated on La Siréene. Maybe she knows more.

An arc of light cuts through the damp... The sword finds its mark. When the weapon hits, yellow-white rivulets crack across the gargoyle's skin. It's as if the creature is exploding with light! It raises a sculpted brow in shock and cries out, reaching towards La Siréene. The sound comes through the sloshing orb.

NoooOO!! La Siréene!...I...am...Maria!

The gargoyle breaks into a heap of pebbles! As it disintegrates, you see what looks like a wisp of spirit leap out of it, and jump to La Siréene!

Gargoyle #2 is dead.

La Siréene, roll a Will save.

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Round 2:

The gargoyle above Sandru stomps the heath, upright on goat-like haunches, tearing up clumps of earth with clawed feet.

Kill those who help La Siréene!

It swipes at Sandru with both claws. The first one pierces his armor, dealing a nasty cut. The second one also hits; the gargoyle's powerful arm bats away Sandru's shield...it rakes its talons across his face. The creature snaps its jaws, slamming them down like a portcullis into the sinew of Sandru's arm! It revels in the taste of its enemy's blood, and shakes its head like a crazed bull. The gargoyle rams its horns into his gut. He feels their impact against his chestpiece, but they do no damage, apart from a bruise.

The wisp circles around La Siréene's head. "Maria" senses something different now about the person she formerly knew. Something...essential? All of a sudden, she realizes her plans are foiled.

She's not getting in that body.

NoooOO! she screams. There is a wail, as if the wisp of spirit raises its hands to its face, shocked, horrified. Outwitted. She was so close! But La Siréene's mind always, always, (curses!) one step ahead. It's true what they say, You can never go home again.

Caromarc starts to take a step backwards
No - if I move, the ward moves.Aqueous orb critters are entangled, as I understand, so can't AoO - if I'm wrong, cast defensively. Cast Summon Monster II.
Caromarc stops, breathes deeply once, and starts to call out a summoning chant.

Elspeth whips delightedly into the orb of water, dissapointed to discover her incorporeal form does not interact with the liquid. Bitterly she lashes out at a trapped gargoyle
1d20 + 10 ⇒ (4) + 10 = 14 for 1d6 ⇒ 2 str

5ft to J23. Take mutagen (str). If can move, move to I21.
The Mechanical Manservant advances slightly, opens a valve, reconnects a tube into his chest and waits for the alchemically advanced fuel to hit his power core.
When it does he starts buzzing, the knives extend from his fingertips and his face plate splits vertically as the buzz-saw comes out.

The gargoyle that Elspeth attacked tries to swim against the current and break free. Water crashes against the large span of its wings, lifting them like sails, and carrying it back. The waters threaten to do damage, but work at an impasse against its thick stone skin.

You know that gargoyles are greedy, vindictive creatures that like to scavenge and collect. The longer a tribe of gargoyles abides somewhere, the more its members come to resemble that region's architectural styles. Here...these are Pharasmin gargoyles that have "turned' to resemble creatures of Norgorber.

Gargoyles can fly. They attack using claws, bite, and goring enemies with their horns. Their stone bodies are hardy against regular weapons, but take damage normally from magical ones.

The red glow in these monsters eyes points to the workings of an unusual force. You alone know that these are normal statues animated by your former personalities. Maria...oh! Maria! These are all other personalities vying for control. They want to invade you. They are desperate. They would kill you to take control of that body. In a most base analysis, you are beset by "demons."

These things... they are warped, nothing like the ones I knew. Is it their end or perhaps the way they returned, that warped them? Or is it one of the two creatures among them that were capable of violence that manipulates them? Regardless, I have to see to their end.

As La Siréene strides away from the gargoyle, the evil strikes out at her, mindless...chaotic...

La Siréene, take 3 damage.

@La Siréene:

A memory returns...Dr. Grey talking with you in the future, in his lab. "I haven't perfected this process. There are going to be side effects. For instance...psychological content...externalized."

There is a laugh from deep within the valley, somewhere out in the fog. A masculine sound, but not resonant; instead, it's a hacking, braying noise, like a donkey, or the teeth of a saw on wood. The oddness of it is terrifying. Come to me, dark one, calls the voice. The gargoyle that struck La Siréene flaps its wings and departs further into the valley.

Gargoyle #5 withdraws from battle.

More laughter, which turns into a whining sound, then a keen; the rocking back-and-forth of a madman. La Siréene, do you even know who that was? asks the voice. You don't recognize that one, do you? The keening sound starts again. The speaker clearly unhinged.

NAMELESS?! it roars. Tottering insanity. The speaker is barely keeping it together. There is no Nameless, you arrogant witch! They have names! You just didn't bother to learn them! The braying cough. But know the name, and you gain control, he says in a sing-sing tone. For instance, take the case of poor, sad Maria. Simple Maria. So easy to manipulate. But she was a problem for us, wasn't she? You handled that very efficiently, solved that problem for both of us.

But there is still the problem of you, meat. The whining again, rising in pitch. The speaker becoming agitated. Problem of you, problem of you. Me and you, you and me.

Just me now. There will be just me.

_________________

Sandru's cutlass cuts deep into the gargoyle that attacked him! His second blow comes at a different angle and hits a well-defended spot.

Only the half-elf would have the skill to target arrows accurately into the churning water. The gargoyle tumbles amid the rain of fletching. They seek out and hit the most vulnerable locations. The monster is knocked forward, then back, as it's mercilessly punctured by arrows.

"Sandru, you're hurt!" Phoebe cries out. Surrounded by the chaos of battle, she raises her hand and focuses on the warrior. Her pupils disappear, and her eyes burn fiery orange. "Do not be afraid!" she yells. She casts cure serious wounds on Sandru. The spell effect runs along his skin. It looks like cauterizing flames.

Sandru is healed for 3d8 + 7 ⇒ (8, 4, 1) + 7 = 20 hp.

Once the spell is completed, Phoebe doubles over, coughing up a little bit of blood. She gets a wan look to her face.

The gargoyle that is still alive in the aqueous orb is trapped. It goes round and round, staring intently at you. The gargoyle swims towards the inquisitor (to M-23), then goes limp, letting the strength of the current do the work. This sends it charging into Blackacre with its stone horns.

The attack was strong enough, it would have normally injured Blackacre. But when the horns make contact, there is a silver cascading glimmer. Caromarc's magic circle protects him from harm!